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Munich has been crowned Europe's best airport and has landed in the top 10 of the world's best airports in a passenger survey.

It's the 12th time in 14 years that the Bavarian transport hub has earned the top spot in Europe in the annual World Airport Awards. In the new rankings, Munich was also able to position itself among the top 10 airports in the world by landing in seventh place.

Bosses welcomed the award and praised staff at the international air hub.

"We're very proud of our airport," said Munich Airport CEO Dr Micahel Kerkloh. "This award shows that we are also seen by international observers as a highly efficient and very welcoming airport.

"That's why this prize belongs above all to the over 35,000 people employed at the airport. It is their commitment, day in and day out, that ensures that our airport enjoys such an excellent reputation around the world."

As in the previous year, Singapore Changi again earned the title as the world's best airport, ahead of number two, Tokyo Haneda, and Incheon Airport in Seoul.

Meanwhile there were some other German wins. Düsseldorf took the seventh spot in the best airports of 20 to 30 million passengers. In the category for 10 to 20 million passengers, Cologne/Bonn scooped third place and Hamburg was fourth.

'Motivated and enthusiastic'

The World Airport Awards are based on a global survey of passengers from 100 countries which aviation research institute Skytrax then used to produce ratings for 550 airports around the world.

Commenting on the excellent ratings of the Bavarian hub, Edward Plaisted, the CEO of Skytrax, said: "To achieve these high levels of customer satisfaction requires staff to be motivated, enthusiastic and able to work as a team, and clearly this is being well provided at Munich Airport."

Munich Airport's Terminal 2 achieved an outstanding result again this year, being placed third in the World's Best Terminal category.

Among airport hotels, Hilton Munich Airport also scored high ratings, ranking second in Europe and fourth worldwide. Moreover, since 2015, Munich has boasted "Five-star Airport" status – as the only European airport to earn this honor.

The five-star designation is awarded on the basis of audits conducted by aviation experts with Skytrax.

The airport has, however, previously received complaints about its customer and security service. In June 2018, one traveller told The Local that a mistake by border police cost her her flight - and €2,000.